Working in technological factories

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1 SPECIALe Working in technological factories W W? A? S S F ELISA MARANZANA 96

From the recent research of the igital Transformation cademy and Startup ntelligence bservers carried out by the olytechnic niversity of ilan revealed that during more than one out of three talian

2 From the recent research of the igital Transformation cademy and Startup ntelligence bservers carried out by the olytechnic niversity of ilan revealed that during more than one out of three talian companies meaning the will increase investments in digital technologies, with an estimated growth between 1,8% and 1,9%. redit is given to phase two of the overnment s lan, the so called nterprise, maybe. ut there are also those who assert that if a company wants to grow up by investing in new technologies and moving towards the factory of the future, it does it anyway hether a overnment provides subsidies for it or not icola Scarlatelli certainly thinks so e is Samec s eneral anager, a Turin s productive reality that designs and manufactures modular components and systems for sheet metal handling on transfer presses and roboti ed interpress lines since more than years Samec believes and invests in new technologies long time before we started talking about the fourth industrial revolution 97

Nicola Scarlatelli, amec s eneral anager DO US ESS TODA obody has a documented history from which it comes out a well defined guideline about how to do 4.0 usiness, says Scarlatelli.

t is actually in these years that every productive reality is testing on its own the things that need to be done concretely.

The first one highlights Scarlatelli is linked to one of the main typical problems of a small company like ours, namely the knowledge transmission: the knowledge that only some people have is likely

3 Nicola Scarlatelli, amec s eneral anager DO US ESS TODA obody has a documented history from which it comes out a well defined guideline about how to do 4.0 usiness, says Scarlatelli. This is a term that refers more to a way of thinking rather than a set of fixed rules. t is actually in these years that every productive reality is testing on its own the things that need to be done concretely. ut Samec truly believes into the factory of the future and the necessity that leads it to invest in this direction arises from two very specific considerations. The first one highlights Scarlatelli is linked to one of the main typical problems of a small company like ours, namely the knowledge transmission: the knowledge that only some people have is likely to be lost if this person leaves the company. The second one concerns the product s value, that around the Seventies was based mostly on the physical production and minimally on the pre and post production activities. In the early two-thousands, the physical production started to cover a low value of the product, while what stays upstream and downstream in the production process has gained enormous importance. This means that what generates value doesn t come out from the new tecnologies but rather from the integration of each phase of the process. herefore according to icola Scarlatelli in front of a production that - thanks to the ne technologies - costs and ill continue costing lesser concepts like kno ledge kno -ho creativity and customer service is gaining increasingly value. hus the 4.0 ompanies have to ork in this direction by starting ith a communication improvement ithin the entire company organi ation here Samec s statement on the centrality of the h man reso rces ring inmec T rin: entre rene rial reunion foc se on the challenges of the industry 4.0 organize y the communication doesn't mean only the e change of information but also kno ledge sharing and spreading. recently read a sentence that impressed me a lot and hich fully agree ith, adds Scarlatelli. he idea of a 4.0 nterprise is not based upon the technologies that a factory has but upon orking in technological factories because the decisive factor ill al ays be represented by persons. 98

professionalism of the human resources involved.

4 FRO THEOR TO RA T E ut for Samec ho does the practical concept of ndustry 4.0 is being put into effect? irst of all ans ers us Scarlatelli e are trying on the one hand to improve the systems employed for the activities that stay upstream in the production process and, on the other hand, to improve the professionalism of the human resources involved. In the past for e ample e had great difficulties in tracing the data, because they ere mainly into the designers heads, and this is hy e Samec designs and anufactures odular co ponents and syste s for sheet etal handling on transfer presses and roboti ed interpress lines. Scarlatelli: The idea of a 4.0 Enterprise is not based upon the technologies that a factory has, but upon working in technological factories, because the decisive factor will always be represented by persons." integrated a PDM soft are that allo s us to store the data in a very advanced database, so that it is easier for everyone trace them up, read up and vie every detail related to that project, from the client's in uiry to the proposed solutions and so on. Samec's 4.0 investments aren't only referred to the designing/ project data, but also to the logistics and time-to-market. e have optimi ed the ra material management ith a vertical arehouse BI.MAG.560 that has 28 dra ers ith a kg capacity, distribuited on t o to ers for an overall capacity of kg ith a supervision software that is integrated and interconnected ith our management soft are, in order to ease once more the information e change. his ay, for instance, the management soft are is constantly updated upon the availability or not of the ra material for being able to act accordingly. t the same time over the past t o years e have purchased t o ne automatic vertical arehouses ith CoPilot touch screen control panels and WMS interconnected soft are ith the entire company structure (added to a former manual one already existing in the company, for an improved management o the finished products e added a fifth vertical automatic and interconnected warehouse a ROTO-POINT with compartments and SPS software for the complete traceability and management of the toolings machinery e uipment. Finally, with reference to the production technologies, the latest investments made by Samec covered a TO3D printer micro with remote control and monitoring for the fast prototyping and a turning unit Biglia B565 YS with rotary tools, main spindle with axis, axis, sub spindle with axis feeded by an automatic bar loader X-FILES-S 365 for the construction of a new product line that will be launched on the market during 99

percentage that, in the last two years, has reached the 15%.

5 Every year Samec invests 10/15% of its total t rnover in new technologies. TOWARDS THE FUTURE The investment policy regarding the new technologies has always been part of Samec s growth strategy and, in economic terms, is the e uivalent of almost of the annual turnover. percentage that, in the last two years, has reached the 15%. nd it was exactly this same policy that avoided crisis moments for Samec, even during the darkest moments e have always paid speific attention to our client s needs says Scarlatelli and it is precisely the attempt of answering to these special needs that lead us to constantly renew ourselves. nvesting in new technologies is very important for a positive growth policy, but often happens that the natural and physiological resistance in front of the changes, typical of the human nature, might act as a brake, unless the leadership manages to involve and guide the employees during every evolutionary step The most sensitive persons tend by nature to look kindly upon these choices, explains us the eneral anager of the company from Turin, even if they are aware of the fact that it won t be easy to do. The average age of the people who works in Samec today is 32/33 years and the educational level is definetely higher compared to the past. y impression is that these persons have a lot of confidence in the decisions taken by the direction, also because we have always tried to involve them as much as possible in company s decision making process and transformation. n conclusion For me it is really very important the fact that there has to be a future for Samec. Flexibility, passion, imagination, participation, responsibility, motivation, integration and teamwork are the discontinuity and the continuity with the past. Nicola Scarlatelli: le i ility, passion, imagination, partici ation, responsibility, motivation, integration an teamwor are the iscontin ity an the contin ity with the ast. 100

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